


Abandoned Circus Kitten

by MelanieSkye



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Family Fluff, Family moments, batfam, the bat siblings take over Dick's apartment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 18:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19892548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelanieSkye/pseuds/MelanieSkye
Summary: When Tim saw the tiny kitten and they told him that the kitten was found at an abandoned circus, he just knew. The kitten was calling out for Dick. Dick and the kitten needed each other.





	Abandoned Circus Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> My second fanfic in the Batman fandom! :) And instead of angst, this is family fluff. I head canon the batfam just coming over to Dick's place wholly unannounced. (I mean, that's what the older sibling gets after getting their own place. Speaking as an eldest child here, lol). I really wanted to write a cute Dick and Tim brother moment and then some of the others show up. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Tim kicked on Dick’s door, balancing a crate in one hand and large bag in the other. Dick opened the door, raising an eyebrow when he saw Tim. Dick wore sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt and it was clear that he hadn’t done more than run a hand through his hair since he woke that morning. The raised eyebrow was replaced with a grin and Dick motioned Tim inside. “Morning Tim.”

Tim merely nodded at Dick as he walked inside, setting the bag down next to the couch. He turned to Dick, holding the crate in his hands when a loud meow came when the crate.

“Tim?”

“I got you a birthday present!” Tim said, a bit too quickly. 

Dick peered inside the crate to the small bundle of fluff staring back at him. “A cat? Tim, I don’t know–”

“Okay but hear me out.” Dick nodded. “This kitten was just calling out for you.”

Dick stared at his younger brother, unsure.

“They found her at an abandoned circus. She was just calling out to you. They think her parents left her or were killed by a large bird or something like that.”

“Tim–”

“Dick, she basically has circus blood. They found her while I was volunteering and I couldn’t leave her at the shelter. She’s barely old enough to be without her parents.” Tim set the crate on the floor, opening the door. “You don’t have to decide right now. But give her a chance. She needs a family.” 

Dick watched the kitten as she cautiously stepped out of the crate, looking around and sniffing. Patches of brown, black, and red colored her white fur. Her head was completely white except one patch of red starting at her left ear and ending just before her left eye. He crouched down as the kitten neared him, holding out his hand. The kitten sniffed his hand before pushed her head into his hand. Dick pet the kitten’s head as the kitten began to purr loudly.

Dick looked up at Tim, who was looking at him expectedly. The kitten leapt from the ground to the arm of the couch before walking across the back of the couch. “Okay.”

Tim’s face lit up and he smiled broadly. “Good.” He opened the large bag next to the couch. “I brought you supplies.”

He dug into the bag, pulling out a bag of food and a bag of litter. “I brought you food, litter, a litter box, and food and water dishes.” Tim began placing the items in an unwieldly stack on Dick’s couch.

Like a cat’s idea of Santa Claus, then pulled out a bag of toys. The toys included crinkle balls, a catnip toy in the shape of the bat signal and a catnip toy in the shape of the batmobile. “And I couldn’t _not_ buy these.”

Then he pulled out a similar bag with Superman themed cat toys. “Or these.”

“Okay Santa Paws, do you have anything else in that bag?” Dick grinned as he watched the kitten explore, smelling everything.

“No, I think that’s–” Tim’s head disappeared into the bag for a moment. “Yeah, that’s it. I think that covers all the necessities.”

Tim glanced around the apartment. “Where do you want the litter box? The bathroom?”

Dick blinks. “The bathroom works.”

Tim nods, carrying the litter box and litter to set it up. Dick looked like he was going to tell Tim that he could do that but instead he just shrugged and followed. After setting up the litter box, food bowl and water dish, Tim smiled at his older brother. “Happy birthday!”

Dick chuckled, shaking his head.

“Okay, I’m going to head out so you and circus cat can bond.”

“Tim, you can stay, no reason to leave now.” He had made the long drive to Blüdhaven, after all.

“Nope. You two need to bond.” Tim said, heading out the door. Dick laughed when he heard the door lock. Tim was definitely the only one of his siblings that would have even considered locking the door behind him.

Dick turned to look at the kitten nestled in the couch. “So. Do you want to watch TV?”

She looked up at him and meowed.

“TV, it is then.” Dick said, sitting down on the couch.

* * *

About three days later, the kitten had explored every inch of the house as Dick learned the importance of “cat-proofing.” Dick quickly learned that she loved to be as high as possible in his apartment. Dick eyed his walls while sitting on the couch, considering creating a walking path—a tightrope so to speak—around his apartment so that the kitten could properly find a vantage point. Maybe then he wouldn’t walk into the kitchen and find a cat curled up next to the bread.

The kitten meowed at him as she leapt onto the couch. Padding up to him, she curled up against his leg and purred softly.

He smiled at the tiny thing, she was barely bigger than his hand. Dick pulled out his phone and shot Tim a text.

Dick: I’m keeping her. Us circus kids should stay together.

Tim responded with no less than three gifs, all of them with excited dancing or happy kittens.

* * *

The next day, Dick sat on the couch spreading files and documents out on the coffee table. This case had been the bane of his existence lately and he was determined to figure out what was happening. The kitten next to him leapt towards the coffee table and Dick reached up and caught her, trying to avoid have the documents scattered. Holding onto her, though, was another story. She wiggled out of his hands landed on the coffee table, flinging the papers everywhere, jumped off the table and ran off. Sighing, he moved to collect the papers. 

His door opened and three—rather loud—voices echoed into the apartment. Without looking up, Dick called, “Hey Damian, Tim, Stephanie.”

Stephanie walked into his line of vision first. “Hey Dick. Where’s the kitten?”

The kitten—Dick was still trying to figure out a name for her—chose that moment to appear. Stephanie crouched down and reached out her hand. “Hey pretty girl.”

Dick turned to see Tim and Damian standing near him. Tim was trying not to look curiously at Dick’s case—and failing—while Damian was just looking at the kitten.

Dick’s eye’s widened. “Wait. Did you drive here?” The drive to Blüdhaven was almost 45 minutes on a good day. “Together?”

“Yes.” Damian responded. “Brown and Drake are boring.” 

Tim rolled his eyes and turned to Dick. “How’s she doing?”

“Being an adorable pest.”

Stephanie looked over at Dick and flashed him a grin. “All cats are.”

Damian eyed the cat and looked at Dick. “Grayson, why a cat? A dog seems so much more useful."

Dick shrugged. “Pets don’t have to be useful, Damian.”

Dick wasn’t sure how all of them ended up sitting on the floor in a poorly executed circle. Stephanie brought a cat teaser and the kitten attacked it as Stephanie dangled it over the kitten’s head.

Tim looked over at Dick. “So, what’s her name?”

Dick grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “I haven’t been able to think of one yet.”

Stephanie shook her head, not looking up from the kitten’s antics. “Dick. That’s inconsiderate, how would you feel if you didn’t have a name?”

“Brown, that is clearly not the same thing.”

“Yes, it is. We all need a name.” Stephanie glowered at Damian. “We can’t just call her kitten or cat.”

In the meantime, Tim had his phone in his hand, taking pictures of the kitten jumping to attack the feathered toy.

“How about Spoiler?” The three boys stared at her and Stephanie put her hands up in the air. “Kidding, kidding.” She grumbled to herself. “Still would be a cute name for a cat.”

“How about Circus?” Dick asked.

Damian rolled his eyes. “That is not a proper name Grayson.”

“How about Patches?” Tim suggested.

Dick shook his head. “I don’t want a standard cat name. How about Trapeze?”

Stephanie shook her head. “Maybe, but I’m not really feeling it.”

The kitten padded over to Damian and sniffed at his knee. She hopped onto his leg before curling up in a ball, purring. Damian seemed to stop breathing as he looked down at the tiny ball of fluff on his leg.

Stephanie laughed. “Damian. You can breathe like normal; she’s fine.”

“I don’t want to disturb her. Not that you would understand what it means to not disturb someone, Brown.”

Stephanie glared, opening her mouth to make some retort when Dick interrupted. “Damian, Stephanie. I really would prefer my apartment stay in one piece.”

“How about Nightwing?” Tim interjected.

The group turned to stare at him, all their faces saying, in various ways, absolutely not. Stephanie groaned and put her head in her hands, Damian rolled his eyes, and Dick shook his head, mostly amused.

“Okay, so not a superhero name. How about Confetti?” Tim suggested. “It’s circus related, but not too over the top.”

Stephanie nodded her head a bit enthusiastically. “Oh, that’s cute. I think that would be a good name.” 

Dick nodded. “Confetti. I like that.”

All four of them looked at newly-minted Confetti the kitten who snuggled deeper into Damian’s leg, purring loudly.


End file.
